Influential former North Dakota lawmaker pleads guilty to traveling to Europe to pay for sex with a minor

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A former influential North Dakota lawmaker, one of the Legislature’s most influential members, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor.

Ray Holmberg, 80, of Grand Forks, was charged in October 2023 with traveling with intent to engage in unlawful sexual activity and receiving or attempting to receive child sexual abuse material. The Republican served as a North Dakota state senator for more than 45 years before resigning in 2022. He initially pleaded not guilty, and a trial was scheduled for September.

Under a plea agreement signed in June, Holmberg agreed to plead guilty to the first charge, and prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the second charge and recommend a sentence near the low end of the guidelines range.

The travel charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime probation.

In his guilty plea agreement, Holmberg admitted that from June 2011 to November 2016, he “traveled from Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Prague, Czech Republic, on multiple occasions for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex with minors under the age of 18.”

Holmberg was released on numerous conditions, including travel restrictions, whereabouts monitoring and the surrender of his passport.

On Friday, a pretrial detention officer prepared a report stating that Holmberg had not met those conditions.

She wrote that he was verbally reprimanded and reminded of the terms of his pretrial release after he left his residence once and visited an adult store, both times without consent. She added that he “constantly” used the internet without consent and did not allow updates and maintenance of monitoring software on his cellphone.

In May, Holmberg admitted to consuming alcohol after testing positive. Later that month, he was told to take an unapproved iPad out of his home, and a judge added a condition restricting Holmberg’s access to electronic devices.

Since then, he has continued to use the internet, but without permission, the officer wrote.

“Due to the statutory detention order, with all due respect, the defendant is not considered an appropriate candidate for voluntary surrender,” wrote Christine Argall, a U.S. pretrial detention officer.

Holmberg’s attorney, Mark Friese, declined to be interviewed. Holmberg has not been arrested.

Former U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon said the report was a routine document but the alleged violations were serious given the nature of the Holmberg case.

“I’m particularly concerned about the idea that he’s accessing the internet on unapproved devices that aren’t being monitored. It’s really concerning when someone faces the type of charges he faced,” Purdon said. He added that it’s not unusual for Holmberg not to have been arrested.

Holmberg served in the state Senate from 1976 to mid-2022. He initially announced he would not seek re-election but resigned after reports from The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead that he had exchanged dozens of text messages with a man serving a prison sentence for child sex abuse material.

For many years, Holmberg chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, which creates budgets. He also chaired the Legislative Management Panel, which handles various matters between biennial sessions. That job allowed him to approve his own travel.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that Holmberg has made dozens of trips across the United States and other countries since 1999. Destinations include cities in more than 30 states, as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and Norway.

Earlier this year, the North Dakota School Boards Association returned about $142,000 to the state and ended its participation in the Global Bridges teacher exchange program months after travel records were released following Holmberg’s indictment, which revealed he used state funds to travel to Prague and other European cities in 2011, 2018 and 2019.

It is unclear whether the misconduct alleged by authorities occurred on any of those trips.

The factors in the Holmberg case make it likely the most serious political scandal in North Dakota history, Purdon said.

“You have a very high-profile politician. You have literally the worst accusation you can come up with, sexual assault and rape of a child,” he said. “And then you have the idea that tax money paid for the plane ticket.”